people to date.
Since I ran out of DIC, I had to find something to occupy my time with and so, I went out and found myself a copy of "Sgt. Savage and His Screaming Eagles." Like the DIC series, "Sgt. Savage and His Screaming Eagles" is one of the 'forgotten' forays into Joe animation. Or, more correctly, is one of those forays that most Joe fans would prefer be forgotten.
Well, hard cheese to them! It's time the world knew that Sgt. Savage and His Screaming Eagles existed, however briefly, as a cartoon.
But first, the obligatory background information:
Sgt. Savage, the toyline, was introduced in 1995, after the 3.75 inch figure line was retired in 1994. The new figures differed from the 3.75" figures promoted by the Sunbow and DIC series. They were slightly larger (4.5 inches instead of 3.75) and featured a new subgroup of Joes (the Screaming Eagles) and new villains (the I.R.O.N. Army led by General Blitz).
Darrell DePriest says this about the Savage line in an article about GI Joe at bigredtoybox.com's ToyNFo:
In 1995, after the demise of the 3-3/4” line, Hasbro tried yet again to reposition Joe for the 90’s. Sgt. Savage and His Screaming Eagles retained much of the poseability of the previous line but in a larger 5” size. Even though it boasted a decent science fiction storyline backed by a new animated series, the line failed to generate consumer interest and died in less than a year.
The new figures were bigger and bulkier than the 3.75 inch figures I grew up with. Their proportions, to me, seemed off. The guys were hyper-muscular and looked more like cartoon characters than the smaller Joes did. I know I thought they were dumb-looking when I first saw them and I still prefer the smaller, more proportionate Joes I grew up with, at least as figures.
At least, I think I'm remembering the Savage figures. I know they came out a few months before the Extreme line did and that the Extreme line looked to me to be the ugliest hunks of plastic ever.
But the focus here isn't on the toyline, it's on the Sgt. Savage cartoon! Why? Because I have a copy of that and I wanna waste some more space on this site and I wouldn't know how to do a figure review to save my life. It'd end up being something like: "It's..uh...got legs and you can bend 'em and he looks pretty cool and I like makin' 'em do weird stuff..."
On to Sgt. Savage review: "Old Soldiers Never Die" -- Also known as "Old Heroes Never Die". It depends if you go by the title on the outside of the tape or the title used in the episode itself.
Click on the link for complete cast and crew credits for Sgt. Savage and His Screaming Eagles.
Click here to read the Sgt. Savage Filecards courtesy of Straight-Edge.
Links:
Straight Edge's GI Joe Sanctuary -- Really good Sgt. Savage fanfic, titled "Old Soldiers Never Die". Billed as the first installment, let's hope he writes more soon!
To Return to the DIC Guide (Hey! I fixed the link! It works now! WHOO!)